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Errata for 1979-2008 Data Release

Errata for 1979-2008 Data Release

Important Information

The NLS Investigator contains the most recent release of each NLS cohort. Known problems with the 1979-2008 release of the NLSY79 are found below. Corrections have been made to items noted in the Errata of prior releases. For further questions, please contact NLS User Services.

Errata for NLSY79 1979-2008 Mainfile and Work History Release, May 2010

Important Notice to Users:

Users are cautioned that we have discovered an error in the NLSY urban/rural residence variable. This error affects variables in the following rounds:

NLSY79: rounds 21-22 (2004-2006)

NLSY79 young adult: rounds 21-22 (2004-2006)

The NLSY97 urban/rural variables for rounds 8-11 will be corrected on the next public data release, scheduled for July 2010. The revised NLSY79 urban/rural variables will be released on this errata page as soon as they are created. We suggest that researchers using this variable obtain the revised data before concluding their research.

The error stems from a change in the Census Bureau's definition of an urban area. The 1990 Census criteria used in creating the NLSY urban/rural residence variable used the population of a place to determine the correct classification. People who lived in urbanized areas or places with a population of 2,500 or more were considered urban; everyone else was rural. The 2000 Census criteria changed the method of determining whether a particular point was urban or rural to one that relied on population density within an area. Areas of higher population density are called Urbanized Areas (UA) and Urban Clusters (UC). Residence in either is now considered urban.

From 2003 (the first year the new definition could be implemented), the NLS geocoders used a hybrid approach that considered respondents living in either an Urbanized Area (but NOT an Urban Cluster) or a place with a population of 2,500 or more to be urban. Otherwise the code is rural. A preliminary estimate of the differences between using this hybrid code and the 2000 Census definition indicates that 6% to 7% of respondents may be affected.

The years reported for promotions/position changes for each employer in survey year 1996 (round 17) are incorrect. The correct data will be included in the next data release. The affected variables are listed below.

R52874.02

DATE OF POSITION CHANGE JOB #01

QES1-PROMO40~Y

R53270.02

DATE OF POSITION CHANGE JOB #02

QES2-PROMO40~Y

R53654.02

DATE OF POSITION CHANGE JOB #03

QES3-PROMO40~Y

R54020.02

DATE OF POSITION CHANGE JOB #04

QES4-PROMO40~Y

R54359.02

DATE OF POSITION CHANGE JOB #05

QES5-PROMO40~Y

Users can access the corrected data for these variables in the following file: promo40_years96.zip

The day portion of the date should not be present and does not contain valid data. Only the month and year of the date should be used. These variables will be eliminated from the next data release. The affected variables are listed below.

R52874.00

DATE OF POSITION CHANGE JOB #01

QES1-PROMO40~D

R53270.00

DATE OF POSITION CHANGE JOB #02

QES2-PROMO40~D

R53654.00

DATE OF POSITION CHANGE JOB #03

QES3-PROMO40~D

R54020.00

DATE OF POSITION CHANGE JOB #04

QES4-PROMO40~D

R54359.00

DATE OF POSITION CHANGE JOB #05

QES5-PROMO40~D

2) Missing Spouse Occupation Codes for 2006 and 2008

The occupation codes for respondent's spouses or partners are missing for survey years 2006 and 2008. The affected variables are listed below. They will be included in the next release.

The following 2002 and 2004 variables have incorrect data for the employer number in previous survey year.

R71789.00 EMPLOYER NUMBER FROM PREVIOUS SURVEY YEAR THAT MATCHES, JOB 01 R71790.00 EMPLOYER NUMBER FROM PREVIOUS SURVEY YEAR THAT MATCHES, JOB 02 R71791.00 EMPLOYER NUMBER FROM PREVIOUS SURVEY YEAR THAT MATCHES, JOB 03 R71792.00 EMPLOYER NUMBER FROM PREVIOUS SURVEY YEAR THAT MATCHES, JOB 04 R71793.00 EMPLOYER NUMBER FROM PREVIOUS SURVEY YEAR THAT MATCHES, JOB 05 R78646.00 EMPLOYER NUMBER FROM PREVIOUS SURVEY YEAR THAT MATCHES, JOB 01 R78647.00 EMPLOYER NUMBER FROM PREVIOUS SURVEY YEAR THAT MATCHES, JOB 02 R78648.00 EMPLOYER NUMBER FROM PREVIOUS SURVEY YEAR THAT MATCHES, JOB 03 R78649.00 EMPLOYER NUMBER FROM PREVIOUS SURVEY YEAR THAT MATCHES, JOB 04 R78650.00 EMPLOYER NUMBER FROM PREVIOUS SURVEY YEAR THAT MATCHES, JOB 05

This error is present in releases of 2002, 2004 and the current 2006 NLSY79 data. Corrected data will be included in the next data release. In the interim, corrected data and programs from empprevids.zip.

4) Missing flag for 2006 Retirement Expectations module

The 2006 (round 22) survey included an experimental two-part module on Retirement Expectations. 1000 eligible respondents were selected for administration of this module. The variable indicating which respondents were flagged for this module was inadvertently left out of the NLSY79 1979-2006 data releases. It will be included in subsequent data releases. To create the flag using existing data, use the following logic:

if (T02794.00 > -4) then retire_exp_flag = 1;

else retire_exp_flag = 0

5) Error in revised income variables

Revised versions of some income variables were added to the NLSY79 1979-2006 data release. It has come to our attention that valid '0' values in these variables were inadvertently recoded to '-3' values (invalid missing). The variables potentially affected are listed below. The error will be fixed in subsequent data postings. In the meantime, these items can be accessed using the following programs and data files in Revised_TopcodedIncome.zip.

R07821.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC)(REVISED) R07824.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC)(REVISED) R07843.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC)(REVISED) R07846.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC)(REVISED) R10240.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC)(REVISED) R10243.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC)(REVISED) R10262.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC)(REVISED) R10265.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC)(REVISED) R14107.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC)(REVISED) R14110.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC)(REVISED) R14129.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC)(REVISED) R14132.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC)(REVISED) R17785.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC)(REVISED) R17788.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R17807.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC)(REVISED) R17810.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC)(REVISED) R21416.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R21419.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R21438.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC)(REVISED) R21441.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R23503.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R23506.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R23525.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R23528.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R27225.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R27228.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (REVISED) (TRUNC) R27247.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R27250.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R29714.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R29717.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R29736.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R29739.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R32794.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R32797.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R32816.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R32819.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R32922.01 TOTAL INCOME OF PARTNER FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R32925.01 TOTAL INCOME OF PARTNER FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R35590.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R35593.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R35612.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R35615.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R35718.01 TOTAL INCOME OF PARTNER FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R35721.01 TOTAL INCOME OF PARTNER FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R38971.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R38974.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R38993.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R38996.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R39099.01 TOTAL INCOME OF PARTNER FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R39102.01 TOTAL INCOME OF PARTNER FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R42951.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R42955.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R43144.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR(TRUNC) (REVISED) R43149.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR(TRUNC) (REVISED) R43908.01 TOTAL INCOME OF PARTNER FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R43913.01 TOTAL INCOME OF PARTNER FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R49828.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R49832.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R49960.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R49966.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R56262.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R56266.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R56508.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R56514.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R63646.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R63650.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R63749.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R63753.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R69097.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R69111.01 TOTAL INCOME FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R69178.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM WAGES AND SALARY IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED) R69192.01 TOTAL INCOME OF SPOUSE FROM FARM OR BUSINESS IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC) (REVISED);

6) Income from Other Sources, 1992

The variable Q13-75_TRUNC is inadvertently missing for survey year 1992. The affected variable is listed below. It will be included in the next release.

For survey year 1992 (round 14):T39083.01 TOTAL INCOME RECEIVED BY R/SPOUSE FROM OTHER SOURCES IN PAST CALENDAR YEAR (TRUNC)

In 1996, "in jail" was eliminated as a specific reason for gaps between jobs. Upon examination of the "other (specify)" responses for survey years 1996-2004, the following respondents reporting between job gaps can be assigned a code of "13" (in jail) for the specific gap listed below. CHRR staff members are in the process of examining gaps data from other survey years as well. Interested users should check back as this update notice will be appended to reflect any additional "in jail" codes that can be assigned. These "in jail" codes will be reflected in the next data release.

Incorrect values were recently discovered for 383 respondents in the Highest Grade Completed (HGC) variables for 2008. These respondents have reported completing less than 12 years of education (the vast majority reporting 10 or 11 years). They were inadvertently assigned a value of "12" in the HGC variables listed below. The corrected data will be included in the next release.

The 1996 variable R57365.00 (LINTYEAR - Info Sheet - Year of Last Int) was found to have incorrect data. Corrected data will be included in the next data release. In the meantime users should use R57364.02 (LINTDATE~Y - Info Sheet - Date of Last Int) instead as a substitute. It also contains the year of last interview.

10) Missing 50+ Health Module Scores for 2008

The 50+ Health Module in 2008 once again includes questions from the SF-12 questionnaire. Physical and mental component summary scores are computed for each eligible respondent based on responses to the SF-12 questions. These scores were inadvertently omitted from the current data release. These items will be included in the next data release. The affected variables are:

11) Erroneous State and County FIPS Code Combinations for Multiple Survey Years

A relatively small number of erroneous state and county FIPS code combinations have been discovered for survey years 1982-1986, 1993 and 1994. Users who have licensed the Geocode cd can obtain the reference numbers for affected variables, as well as the incorrect and correct state/county FIPS combinations for the appropriate survey years by contacting User Services at 614-442-7366 or e-mailing usersvc@postoffice.chrr.ohio-state.edu.

Corrections will be made on future NLSY79 Geocode releases.

12) Interviewer Identification Number Missing for 2004

The Interviewer Id variable for 2004 that is part of the created Interviewer Characteristics area of interest is missing from the current data release. This omission will be corrected in the next data release.

Three variables computed from 2008 data have been found to contain errors for between 91 and 566 cases. Values for other variables were inadvertently inserted for these variables for the affected cases. The errors will be corrected in the next data release.

The question names for a small set of 1981 KEY VARIABLES are reversed. The variable titles are correct. In addition, R06459.00 is missing the KEY VARIABLES area of interest assignment. The question names will be corrected and the area of interest assignment added with the next data release. The affected variables are:

The following are incorrect titles the variables listed below:

CURRENT

REFERENCE

(INCORRECT)

CORRECT

NUMBER

QUESTION NAME

QUESTION NAME

R06458.00

WKSWK-PCY

WKSWK-SLI

R06458.01

WKSUNACCT-PCY

WKSUNACCT-SLI

R06459.00

WKSUEMP-PCY

WKSUEMP-SLI

R06460.00

WKSOLF-PCY

WKSOLF-SLI

R06463.00

WKSWK-SLI

WKSWK-PCY

R06463.01

WKSUNACCT-SLI

WKSUNACCT-PCY

R06464.00

WKSUEMP-SLI

WKSUEMP-PCY

R06465.00

WKSOLF-SLI

WKSOLF-PCY

3) Ranges Not Updated for Work History Array Variables

Users should be aware that the ranges for variables in the Work History STATUS and DUALJOBS arrays have not been updated to reflect frequencies for job numbers reported in survey year 2008 (round 23). The affected variables can be found in areas of interest WORK HISTORY - WEEKLY LABOR STATUS and WORK HISTORY - DUAL JOBS. The vast majority of cases affected will be reflected in the variables representing weeks between 2006 and 2008 (the normal survey interval for 2008). However, in instances in which respondents were interviewed in 2008 after having skipped interviews, job numbers reported in r23 may be missing from the codebook frequencies further back in the arrays.

This problem affects codebook documentation frequencies only. Data for these jobs is present and is represented in data extracts. Round 23 job numbers (if any were reported for a specific week), can also be detected by looking at the min/max numbers on the codebook page.

The appropriate range updates will be reflected in the next data posting.

4) 1981 Employment Status Recode

The title and SAS title for the 1981 Employment Status Recode, found in area of interest KEY VARIABLES is missing. Current file extractions from Investigator fill in the missing fields with the contents of the text field. This will be corrected in the next data release. The correct title for the affected variable is as follows:

Question name - ESR_KEY

R06881.00

(title)

EMPLOYMENT STATUS RECODE

(SAS title)

EMPLOYMENT STATUS RECODE 81

Additional Data Files

1) A special child care supplement was administered in 1989 to a subset of 347 NLSY79 mothers. These data were used to gauge likely responses and arrangements. A zip file the 1989 Childcare survey from can be downloaded from Child-childcaresurvey-1989.zip.

Uncorrectable Data Errors

The occupation, industry and class of worker information for 353 CPS employers were not collected during the 1994 interview. These CPS employers were either less than 9 weeks in duration since the last interview, or were employers for whom the respondent worked less than 10 hours per week. They were erroneously treated as other non-CPS employers with those characteristics, for which occupation, industry and class of worker information is not collected. For those employers that were also reported in the previous survey year, and for which the respondent confirmed that his/her occupation did not change since the previous survey year, the occupation, industry and class of worker codes from the previous survey year should also apply. Users may also data subsequent survey years in a similar manner to attempt to fill in more of this information.

Due to an error in the questionnaire, information on union affiliation and collective bargaining on a number of employers was not collected. Respondents reporting a non-self-employed job should have answered these questions. This error affects employer #1 (generally the CPS employer) for 3,210 respondents of the 7141 respondents who should have been asked, employer #2 for 531 of the 2215 respondents who should have been asked, employer #3 for 128 of the 606 who should have been asked, employer #4 for 34 of 168 who should have been asked and employer #5 for 6 of 48 who should have been asked. This is 45% missing for employer #1, 24% missing for employer #2, 21% missing for employer #3, 20% missing for employer #4 and 13% missing for employer #5.

Conversely, information on union affiliation and collective bargaining was collected on a number of self-employed respondents, for whom these questions should not have been asked. This error affects employer #1 for 166 cases, employer #2 for 45 cases, and employers #3, #4 and #5 for 1 case each. This information for self-employed respondents (those with a code of "4" for class of worker) should be disregarded.

This error is present on all current NLSY79 data releases.

3) 2 missing cases in 1994 data items

Due to probable machine glitches, the data from two (2) apparently completed interviews was rendered inaccessible. 1994 variables for cases #5078 and #10524 are missing. Any 1994 data items remaining for these cases is meaningless and should be discarded for purposes of analysis. The 1996 interview period for these cases spanned from the 1993 to the 1996 interview. Information that would have been collected at the 1994 interview is thus now included in the data for the 1996 survey year.